News

IndianExpress: Just three days after Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram criticised the civic administration for the crumbling infrastructure in the city, on Monday it was the turn of his ministerial colleague Kumari Selja to warn the powers-that-be to complete the projects on time. “After laying the foundation stone, the project should not be ignored and left incomplete,” the Union Minister of State for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation said after the foundation stone laying ceremony for the over Rs 300-crore hawkers’ zone project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) at Wadgaonsheri.

Under the project, of the 40,000 hawkers in the city, 10,000 will be rehabilitated on this zone. Pointing towards local MP Suresh Kalmadi, Selja said though rehabilitation of hawkers was not part of the JNNURM, “it is because of you that we have approved the first installment”. But she was quick to warn him that in view of the forthcoming civic elections, it should not be made into an “election stunt”. She also promised additional funds in the first installment itself for rehabilitating another 10,000 hawkers

IndianExpress: The greens oppose it, the PMC supports it, and public opinion is divided. The controversial Balbharati Paud link road issue has seen no clear consensus for several years. Now, for perhaps the first time, the issue will now be brought under the objective scrutiny of academic research, thanks to a study by nine architecture students in the city.

Prajakta Dalal, Sonali Rajwade, Anshul Gujarati, Gandhali Darvekar, Prajakta Kshirsagar, Asavari Mulmule, Gayatri Godse, and Pallavi Nargund, Sujata Kodak, all students from the Masters in Environmental Architecture at the Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture for Women began their study three months ago with an aim to provide direction to the issue through objective and technical analysis.
 
“We find that the issue often takes on sentimental undertones, and is argued by each stakeholder including the NGOs and the PMC from their own point of view. As a result, the real issue does not come to light. With this study, we want to present both sides of the issue and give direction to the debate,’’ said Purva Keskar, Director of the Centre for Environmental Architecture at the college.

IndianExpress:  With the new year just around the corner, People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) have in a unique initiative, written, designed and published a Health Diary 2007. Released today by former Miss India Amrita Thapar at the Treatment Adherence Advocacy Literacy (TAAL) pharmacy in Nana Peth, the diary is literally a ready reckoner on information about HIV.

Says Shabana Patel, president of the Network of People Living with HIV in Maharashtra (NMP+), “There is an urgent need for information on life after treatment. This diary will be useful for PLHA’s who can use it as a guide to understand and track the state of their infection, consult the diary on safe sexual practices, read about the laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection and also take tips on home-based care.’’

IndianExpress: From dance competitions to protection for senior citizens — Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to make an impact in the forthcoming civic polls.

The preliminary round of the two-day dance competitions began on Monday at Balgandharva Rangmandir. According to MNS students wing leader Arpita Joshi, a total of 55 teams are participating in the dance competition. The auditorium has a capacity to seat 1,000 people and there is no entry fee for the viewers.

The competitions are being held simultaneously in Pune, Nashik, Thane and Mumbai. The winners of preliminary rounds will get to compete in the final round in Mumbai later this month. The winning group will get a prize money of Rs 50,000 and the solo dance winner will get Rs 31,000.

IndianExpress: After an unusually warm November that was lashed by rains for a few days, winter chill has finally set in with minimum temperatures in the city dipping by over five degrees in the past two days. On Saturday, the minimum temperature was 18.7 degrees Celsius which dropped to 13. 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

While minimum temperatures are still above normal for this time of the year, they have dipped considerably from last month when they were 5-7 degrees above normal.

“There has been a decreasing trend in temperatures over the past few days. The minimum temperature is still above normal by 2-3 degrees but it has cooled down since November,” India Meteorological Department director (weather forecasting) RR Lele said. With the minimum temperature touching 13.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, it remained above the normal of 11 degrees Celsius for this time of the year.

IndianExpress: The Pune Rural Police on Monday arrested two men, allegedly involved in the murder of 12-year-old boy in Bihar. Acting on a tip-off, a Crime Branch team of the Rural Police laid a trap and nabbed the duo from Nanded village, off Sinhagad Road in Haveli Taluka.

The arrested accused have have been identified as Arvind Kumar, alias Robin Babu Prasad Yadav (26) and Navsatkhan Firoz Khan (25), both residents of Sukhli, Pancharan District, Bihar.

Police Sub INspector Sanjay Pawar, who is investigating the case, said: “We received information that two criminals had come to Nanded from Bihar. A team from the Crime Branch was sent to Nanded village, which led to the arrest of the duo.